Bitcoin Retakes $23,000 as Crypto Rallies Before US Jobs Report

Bitcoin price rose as global stocks neared a two-month high and in advance of the US payrolls report.

The largest cryptocurrency rose as much as 4% to $23,422 on Friday, staying within the range of around $19,000 to $25,000 that’s held it since mid-June. Ether was up as much as 5.4% to $1,678.

“The majors continue to trade in a upwards range with a lack of any strong catalysts that would be needed for a breakout,” Genesis strategists Noelle Acheson and Marc Chan wrote in a note Thursday. “Bitcoin is currently trading in the middle of the June-August flag.”

Other coins also rose, with Polkadot and Aave gaining more than 5%.

Cryptographies have traded in tandem with risk assets for months, seeing high correlations with the NASDAQ 100 in particular. They’ve struggled as expectations for Federal Reserve rate hikes increased amid stubbornly high inflation, but have climbed off their worst levels of the past few months.

The monthly US payrolls report might be worth paying attention to, in particular. For the past six reports, Bitcoin has responded to downside miss with a gain and an upside beat with a decline, in the 30 minutes after the data release.

“An increase with Fed rate hike expectations has capped how high Bitcoin can go for now, but as long as traders remain confident that the peak in Treasury yields remains in place, Bitcoin may have bottomed already,” said Edward Moya. “A choppy consolidation might be in Bitcoin’s future until we see a couple more inflation and nonfarm payroll reports.”